Chelsea defender Gary Cahill reveals relief in proving critics wrong by making England spot his own

Gary Cahill tackles Poland's Waldemar Sobota while playing for the Three Lions (Image: Mike Hewitt)

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England defender Gary Cahill is delighted to be in pole position for a starting spot with the Three Lions as the countdown to next summer's World Cup begins.

Roy Hodgson's side test themselves against one of the tournament favourites Germany and an excellent Chile side in the next 10 days and Chelsea defender Cahill goes into those matches as first choice, having started each of England's last five fixtures.

And the 27-year-old, who served his time in the lower leagues with Burnley and Sheffield United earlier in his career, believes he and defensive partner Phil Jagielka have benefitted from a similar route to the national team.

"Because neither of us have been at a Barcelona, Real Madrid or Manchester United since we were 17, or been sold for £40million, people question us," Cahill told The Guardian.

"When we started everyone was talking about the two big stars [John Terry and Rio Ferdinand] who had dropped out and how they had left a massive void.

"I've had that throughout my career. You're forever having to overcome hurdles because you've not got that background."

Cahill started his Premier League career at Aston Villa under Martin O'Neill, but never seemingly did enough to prove to the new Republic of Ireland manager that he deserved to be seen as first choice.

Thus, after a loan spell with the Blades at the beginning of 2007-08, he completed a move to Bolton, before swapping the Reebok Stadium for the Blues and Champions League glory in 2012.

And Cahill believes that the key to proving his critics wrong was seizing every opportunity offered to him and insists that his career path still stands him in good stead.

"Frankly, it makes me feel better about where I am now, the fact I've gone through all that," he added.

"I've gone on loan, dropping down from Villa, to come back up again and get where I am now.